Murderville 2: The Epidemic (10 page)

Liberty was seasoned when it came to men, and she
could see the approval in Po’s eyes. She blushed and said, “You clean up well, handsome.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a bashful smile. He guided her out of the hotel and toward the driver that he had hired for the night.

“All of this for a meeting?” she asked.

“I’m not on no extra shit, ma. It’s needed, trust me,” Po replied.

The two greeted the driver, and then climbed inside, headed toward their destination.

The city streets were a blur in her window as they flew down them, headed to Malibu. Liberty didn’t know what to expect, how she was supposed to act, what she was getting herself into. She just hoped that she did and said the right things to make Po look good. The oceanside villa at which they arrived blew them both away. Exiting the car, Po adjusted the tie that lay beneath his V-neck sweater. His new status would take some getting used to. There were rules to this side of the game that he had yet to learn. They walked to the door and nervous energy pulsed through Liberty. She didn’t like the idea of being so close to Samad’s associates. Po saw her stiffen, and he leaned into her ear to whisper, “You can trust me. I wouldn’t put you in harm’s way again, ma. The first time was a mistake. I’d never walk you into the lion’s den, Liberty. You’re with me so you’re good, remember that.”

Po rang the bell and was greeted by a white woman dripping in diamonds. Liberty was blinded, the woman was shining so brightly. Her stiff, Botoxed face struggled to stretch into a smile.

“You must be our guests for the evening. Please come in. I’m Claudia,” she welcomed. Po and Liberty entered, and Claudia gasped loudly, “You are just exquisite, my dear,” she complimented Liberty.

Caught off guard, Liberty stammered a thank you, then followed Claudia into the dining room. The room was set for four and reminded Liberty of a king’s celebration. Elaborate place settings laced in gold decorated the table, and a huge diamond chandelier hung above the long, rectangular table.

“My husband will be down shortly,” Claudia said. She turned toward the door behind her, and a tall Russian man entered the room. “We guard our home with our life, and we take our privacy very seriously. Please allow Kosov to search you.” Her face went from friendly to cold.

Po pulled his gun from his waistline and popped out the clip, handing it to the guard. “Can’t do much without bullets,” he said as he placed the gun back in its holster. Kosov didn’t know that Po always kept one in the chamber. Po was never completely unarmed. Kosov checked the rest of Po’s body for wires, and then briefly inspected Liberty before giving Claudia the nod of approval. Claudia’s smile returned. “Good,” she said. “Please sit. I’ve had our chef prepare a wonderful meal.”

As the threesome sat, a man entered the room. “This is my husband, Sasha,” Claudia introduced.

“Po, very good to have you here. You are a refreshing difference from our late friend, Samad,” Sasha remarked with a heavy Russian accent. “I hear you have met with Mr. Blue.”

Po shook hands with Sasha. “I have. We did good business together.”

“I hope you give me the same courtesy as you did him. He bragged quite a bit about the rate you offered. Quite the discount,” Sasha said.

“Everything is negotiable. I deal in weight. The heavier your order, the more flexible I can be,” Po responded.

Sasha nodded and gave Po a friendly pat on the back. “Quantity won’t be an issue with me, Po, but we can talk about that later. Please, introduce me to your lovely companion.”

Po turned to Liberty and helped her from her seat. He pulled her next to him as if by his side was where she belonged. “This is Liberty,” Po said.

Sasha grabbed Liberty’s hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss.

“My husband is an admirer of beautiful women. I always know if he is stunned by a woman. If you were unattractive you’d have gotten a shake of the hand, but beauty he acknowledges with a kiss. Such the flirt,” Claudia said with laughter.

The foursome sat down to a five-course meal, and Liberty was amazed at how commanding Po was. It was obvious that Sasha was more seasoned than Po, but Po’s intelligence mixed with his hood savvy easily allowed him to control the tone of the evening. By the end of the evening he had earned Sasha’s respect, Claudia’s affection, and had established a new business friendship. Po had just flipped another fifty birds and was on a money high as he added up the riches in his head.

Liberty was the perfect accessory. She legitimized him in a way that only a boss could understand. Having a woman as remarkable as her on his arm gave him status. No one knew that she wasn’t his, but they played the role perfectly, almost too perfectly for it to be untrue. Liberty charmed Claudia and Sasha all night, speaking only enough to make them feel comfortable. She knew her place and never overstepped her boundaries. Watching her in her element was impressive. It was quite clear that she was meant to be on the arm of a powerful man. She commanded just the right amount of attention to compliment the deal being discussed. Po knew that Liberty had no idea of her own worth. She was a queen that had never been crowned, and Po just happened to have an empty throne next to his.

Good wine, good conversation, and good business flowed between the group. By the end of the night, a firm connection had been established. Po might as well had been the weatherman because he was making it snow all over Southern California. He had bitten off way more than he could chew when he met Liberty. She was his road map to riches far beyond anything he had ever imagined. As he stared at her he found it funny how life had knocked him down, and then put him right back on his feet. He had thought that he was hustling on a large scale back in Detroit, but his grind back home was nonexistent to what L.A. had to offer. By the end of the night, Sasha was completely comfortable with his new supplier, and Po was a quarter million dollars richer. What had once taken him
years to amass, he had made in a three-hour time frame this evening. It almost seemed too good to be true.

Liberty and Po stood to leave.

“Thank you so much, Claudia, for your kind hospitality,” Liberty graciously said.

“Anytime, doll. Please do not be a stranger. This lifestyle can be quite boring sometimes. I’d love to have you over for brunch sometime soon,” Claudia offered.

“Sounds like a date,” Liberty smiled.

The men shook hands before Liberty and Po departed. As soon as they were outside Po rejoiced. He picked Liberty up off of her feet and spun her around in excitement. “We getting money, ma! You were brilliant in there! You had them eating out of the palm of your hand,” he shouted.

“I didn’t do anything. It was all you,” she responded. Liberty laughed heartily for the first time in months as he lifted her in the air. She had been so distracted by her failing health, and then by A’shai’s passing that she never noticed how long it had been since she had genuinely found something funny. It felt good to laugh, but she felt badly because A’shai was no longer able to hear her happiness. How could she even feel joy without him?

“Shh! Before they hear you! They can’t know we were winging it!” she said. Po put her down, and she walked toward the car as the driver held the back door open for her.

Suddenly Po grabbed her hand and said, “Take a walk with me.” He turned toward the driver. “I’ll call you when we’re ready to be picked up.”

Po dragged Liberty toward the dark beach. Liberty removed her shoes as her feet touched the sand.

“You know, I’ve never been to a beach,” she said solemnly.

“Like ever?” Po questioned in surprise.

Liberty shook her head and replied, “I don’t really like the ocean. The sound of the waves reminds me of the time I spent on the trafficking ship that brought me to the States.”

“Ship? Like a
slave
ship?” Po asked.

Liberty nodded, “That’s exactly what it was. Getting on that boat was the biggest mistake that we ever made.”

“We?” Po grilled.

“A’shai and I. He had been by my side since we were kids. Through everything he was always there,” Liberty reminisced. “I never felt alone because even when life separated us, I knew that he was out there somewhere waiting for me.”

Po’s thoughts drifted to Scarlett. She had been the Bonnie to his Clyde, the Jackie to his Kennedy. Yet he found himself getting jealous whenever Liberty spoke of her lost love. How could he miss Scarlett but be drawn to Liberty simultaneously? His growing connection to Liberty made him feel disloyal. Liberty kicked the sand with her feet as she walked with her head down.

Po stopped and pulled her hand, causing her to face him. His stocky frame loomed over her, and he grabbed the back of her neck with authority, with compassion, as he kissed her lips.

Liberty’s body melted into Po as she kissed him back,
tasting the wine on his tongue as her body became ablaze with suppressed pleasure. How was it possible that another man was making her feel the exact same passion that A’shai had? Liberty wanted to stop, but then again, she didn’t want to stop. She lingered in his embrace as their bodies pressed against each other. The thin fabric of her dress wasn’t enough of a barrier between them to stop her arousal. The firmness of his manhood as it bulged in his slacks made her wet as his hands slid down her back and pulled her ass into him. She moaned against her will; she was caught in his rapture. Never in her life had Liberty wanted to be fucked so badly. She needed to release the tension, the sadness, the chaos that had been building inside of her. But when she closed her eyes, it wasn’t Po’s face that she saw. She imagined that his hands were A’shai’s hands, his tongue A’shai’s tongue.

“Ooh, Shai,” she whispered. She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth, and she pulled away in embarrassment. She covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Po,” she apologized.

Po wiped his mouth with his hand as his nostrils flared from the intensity of his breathing. Liberty had him fiending to feel her body against his, to have her as a replacement in his life. He wasn’t mad at her for thinking of the past, because he was guilty of having the same thoughts. They were trying to fill a void in each other’s life, but they each had huge shoes to fill.

“It’s okay,” he replied. “I understand.”

“How could you?” she shouted. “No one understands what I lost.”

Po sat down in the sand, disregarding his expensive threads, and patted the spot next to him. Liberty sat and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I have to tell you something, Liberty,” Po stated. “My girlfriend was murdered. The day we met at the hospital, I was going to collect some of her things. A nigga I had issues with in the street came into the home that we shared and killed her. They tortured her trying to get answers out of her. Thinking that she wasn’t cooperating they murdered her, but they didn’t know that she couldn’t give them what they wanted. She was deaf. She couldn’t hear them,” Po revealed.

“Oh my God,” Liberty whispered as she grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. “I’m sorry.”

“Her name was Scarlett. She was an organ donor, Liberty,” Po stated. “I have no way to be certain, but I think the last-minute heart that they found for you used to beat inside of Scarlett’s chest. You remind me so much of her.”

Liberty let go of his hand and looked at him in shock as her chest caved in. She lost her breath for a moment as she processed the bomb he had just dropped on her. “What?” She abruptly stood to her feet and dusted off her dress. “So this kiss? You wanting me around? All of this was about your dead girlfriend!” Liberty yelled. “This . . . this . . . connection that I feel to you is because you are trying to have a living memorial to her!”

“No!” Po defended. “It’s not like that, Liberty!” Po stood to his feet.

“Oh really? You sure?” Liberty drilled.

Po rubbed the top of his head, frustrated. “I don’t know!”

“You don’t even know if I have her heart! I’m not her! I won’t be her!” Liberty said as she hit her chest with the palm of her hand for emphasis. “I’m not a living shrine!”

“I know that, Liberty!” Po answered.

Liberty didn’t know why she was so upset. She shouldn’t want him to be attracted to her.
Why do I even care?
she thought.

“It wasn’t a good idea that I stayed here, Po. I’m sorry for your loss, but I cannot stay in L.A. I don’t belong here with you,” she whispered as she walked away from him, unsure of where she was headed.

Po waited up all night for Liberty to come back to the hotel. The hollow pit that had formed in his gut had him sick with worry. It was 4
A.M
., and he still hadn’t heard from her. He wasn’t sure if she was coming back or not. The one thing that gave him hope was the money that she kept in the safe.
She has to come back eventually,
he thought as he leaned over and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he heard the lock on the hotel door open, Po stood and went to the foyer. As soon as she stepped inside their eyes locked. He could tell that she had been crying because her eyes were red and swollen.

“I’m sorry. I have no right to be mad at you. I was emotional. The wine had me tripping,” she said. “You can’t put Scarlett on me though, Po. I’m not her. There are a million people who donate organs in this world. The odds are impossible that she’s my donor. This heart is my heart.” Liberty had never thought about who had lost their life in
order for her to live, but with Po standing before her she was being forced to accept the cold truth. She felt like a science experiment, like she didn’t know whose life she was living. Was she attracted to Po, or was her heart pulling her in a direction of its own?

“I know, Liberty,” Po said as he stepped closer to her. He took her face in his hands. The last thing he wanted was for her to disappear. Despite what she said, she was a constant reminder of Scarlett. The fact that Liberty needed what Scarlett so desperately wanted to give someone was connection enough. Yes, Liberty reminded Po of Scarlett, but he could also appreciate the differences he saw.

“I’m sorry. You’re more to me than some replacement for what I lost. You remind me of Scarlett because you’re a good person. You don’t meet too many of those these days. I’m here with you though, Liberty. I see you when I look at you, I hear you when you speak. Scarlett’s gone, and you are the only person who gets what I’m going through. Tonight I went too far. I crossed a line, and I get that. I respect you, and I’m sorry I hurt you. Your friendship means a lot to me, ma, but I understand if you want to leave.”